


The Framework

by Jewelwing23



Series: MCU Fics [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Different Framework Universe (Marvel), Dubious Science, Gen, Hydra (Marvel), Identity Porn, Inhuman Tony Stark, Mutant Tony Stark, POV Third Person Omniscient, Post-Iron Man 1, Secret Identity, The Framework Universe (Marvel), not actual porn, plot without porn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-05 14:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15173003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jewelwing23/pseuds/Jewelwing23
Summary: The Framework was a simulation, originally used as a training program, later used for more nefarious purposes.In the Framework, the world is different. S.H.I.E.L.D. lost and Hydra won. All of this happened because of the Cambridge Incident, where an Inhuman girl killed two hundred and seventy-nine innocent civilians—mostly children. The event had a rippling effect on the world around it, making everything fairly different.But what if it was true?When Tony Stark returned from Afghanistan, the world was a much different place than where he had left it. S.H.I.E.L.D., one of Howard Stark's most important creations, had fallen. Hundreds were dead, and mass hysteria was all too common... but the world still needed Iron Man.Although, there was a small problem. The regular checks that searched for Inhuman DNA were quite inconvenient.Especially because Tony Stark was, in fact, Inhuman.





	1. Prologue

"Tony!" Pepper screamed, seeing his battered and bruised form fall on top of the building. She quickly made her way up the stairs to him, dodging past exposed wires and various parts that had fallen off the two suits during the battle.

"H–Hey, Pep." His breathing was labored and the blue light kept flickering. Oh dear, that didn't look good. Was his breathing getting shallower?

"Hang on, Tony," Pepper said, trying to figure out how to get him out of the metal suit. Perhaps getting him out of it would help him breathing—she knew it would certainly help hers, to know he wasn't suffocating or being crushed under the cold metal.

"I'm–" Tony took a shuddering breath and winced as pain blossomed in his chest. "I'm fine, Pep."

"You'd better be!" Pepper gave him a worried look as the armor slid open.

"I'm all good—" Tony took in a deep breath, breaking off as coughs wracked his body. "I'm okay." He tapped his earpiece. "JARVIS? Are you there, buddy?"

"Systems up and running, sir." The familiar British voice said smoothly. "Running full-body scan... scan complete."

"What's the prognosis, Doc?" Tony rasped, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

Pepper grimaced in sympathy as a piece of the armor made a loud, cracking noise as it collided with a stray block of metal—likely from Obadiah's knock-off Iron Man suit.

Obadiah... he had been the closest thing Tony had possessed to a father figure ever since—ever since what had happened to his parents. Pepper was unsure of how to act, but she knew she had to do something to help her friend.

"You seem to have two fractured ribs and a mild concussion, Sir." JARVIS reported, "Should I call for an ambulance?"

In the distance, they could hear the crescendoing sound of sirens approaching.

"They're coming," Tony answered after some thought. "I'll live."

Pepper gave him an unimpressed look, wiping a smear of blood off of his cheekbone with her sleeve. "I'm sure you will."

"Don't worry." Tony gave her a reassuring grin. "I won't make you go job hunting anytime soon."

"That—" Pepper choked back a strangled half-sob, half-laugh. "That is not funny!"

"It was totally funny!" Tony objected, chuckling in amusement. Almost immediately, a stabbing sensation appeared in his torso. "Maybe laughing wasn't such a good idea," he said weakly, trying to hide his pain behind a usually charming smile.

Unfortunately, Pepper was immune to his tricks, having spent so long around him. "Where does it hurt the most?" She asked, worried that internal bleeding might happen. "I'm going to go find some EMTs, okay? I'll be right back, Tony. JARVIS," she directed her next command to the unseen AI, "make sure he doesn't do anything that will hurt him more." She prepared to climb her way back down to the ground level.

"Of course, Ms. Potts." JARVIS replied politely. "I have already informed the Emergency Medical Technicians of our location. They should be here momentarily."

"Thank you, JARVIS," Pepper said out of habit, stopping and deciding to stay with Tony. Sometimes, JARVIS seemed far more human than expected. The level of concern that was displayed towards Tony was truly heartwarming. She was glad that there was at least one person—er, AI—that cared for Tony's well-being without an ulterior motive. Well, other than herself, that was.

"Over here!" A man called out, and a flashlight shone on them.

Tony covered his eyes to shield him from the bright, reflective light.

The next thing he knew was that he was being put in an ambulance—they made him use the stretcher—he was too tired to argue with them.

"You should sleep, Sir," JARVIS said in his ear, "it will accelerate healing. Everything should be better when you wake up."

"Sleep? But I thought sleeping with a concussion was a bad thing," said Pepper, blinking in surprise.

"That's a myth," Tony sleepily murmured before giving in to the darkness. He should know—it’s happened to him more times than appropriate.

-•-

Tony read from a newspaper as the comforting sound of James Rhodes speaking played on the screen overhead.

"'Iron Man.' That's kind of catchy. It's got a nice ring to it." Tony muttered as Pepper flitted around him, "I mean, it's not technically accurate. The suit's a gold-titanium al— _ow_ —" he winced as Pepper peeled a band-aid off of his nose, "alloy, but it's kind of evocative, the imagery, anyway."

Pepper rolled her eyes at the show of him reading a newspaper. It was highly likely that it was just for dramatics—he never used anything that could easily be replicated digitally unless there was a visual purpose for it.

"Here's your alibi." A thin stack of blue notecards was thrust at his face.

Pepper was about to interject, then realized who it was—Agent Melinda May, who had stopped by earlier—and stopped herself.

Tony looked up, seeing a bored-looking Asian woman. "Okay,"

"You were on your yacht." May continued in a no-nonsense kind of way.

"Yeah," Tony nodded, recognizing the emblem on her arm. Ever since he had come back from Afghanistan, the world was different.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had fallen, and Hydra had taken its place. He kept in mind that Aunt Peggy—Peggy Carter—had fought against Nazis and Hydra for most of her life. Even though the current Hydra proclaimed they had nothing to do with Nazis, the past could not be forgotten.

"We have port papers that put you in Avalon all night, and sworn statements from fifty of your guests." May added, ignoring how he was staring at her shoulder.

"See, I was just thinking maybe we should say it was just, uh, just Pepper and me—alone on the island." Tony smiled at her.

May looked unaffected. "That's what happened,"

"Alright," Tony shrugged.

"Just read it, word for word."

Tony flipped through the notes, "There's nothing about Stane here." He said at last.

"That's being handled." May said, "He's on vacation. Small aircrafts have such a poor safety record."

Tony morbidly wondered who else had Hydra murdered and then covered up.

"But what about the whole cover story that it's a bodyguard?" Tony raised an eyebrow, "He's my... I mean, is that... That's kind of flimsy, don't you think?"

"This isn't my first rodeo, Mr. Stark." May assured the billionaire calmly. "Just stick to the official statement, and soon, this will all be behind you." She disliked having to handle publicity, but the Cambridge Incident was technically her fault. If she had to pay back what she owed to the world in the form of dealing with what she disliked, so be it.

Tony looked down at the papers, reading through the words.

"You've got—" May glanced at the flatscreen, "ninety seconds." She turned away, keeping an eye on Stark through her peripheral vision.

"Oh, Agent May?" Pepper followed the other woman. "I just wanted to say thank you very much for all of your help."

"That's what we do." The words left a very distasteful aftertaste in her mouth, but May forced it out. She remembered saying almost identical words while she had been with S.H.I.E.L.D., but they had failed at protecting the world. At least with Hydra she could try and right her wrongs. "You'll be hearing from us," hopefully never, if you're lucky, her brain filled in.

"From _Hydra..."_

May nodded, turning and leaving quickly. Any moment more of having to pretend to support Hydra would cause for her to vomit. There were cameras everywhere, there was no safe place to hide.

"Let's get this show on the road," Pepper said, watching the dark-haired agent exit briskly. To her, the words had seemed too perfect—too rehearsed.

"You know, it's actually not that bad." Tony said, standing up. "Even _I_ don't think I'm Iron Man."

Pepper held out his suit jacket, helping him get his arms in the sleeves. "You're not Iron Man."

"Am so," Tony said petulantly, holding the note cards in his teeth.

"You're not,"

"All right, suit yourself." Tony took a breath, "You know, if I were Iron Man, I'd have this girlfriend who knew my true identity. She'd be a wreck, 'cause she'd always be worrying if I was going to die, her so proud of the man I've become." He turned around and faced Pepper, taking the notecards out with a hand.

"She'd be wildly conflicted, which would only make her more—" Tony cleared his throat, "crazy about me. Tell me you never think about that night."

"What night?" Pepper was making sure his suit had no wrinkles or stains on it—something that happened all too often with Tony constantly working on various projects.

"You know."

Pepper stopped and looked up, meeting his eyes. "Are you talking about that night that we danced and went up on the roof, and then you went downstairs to get me a drink, and you left me there, by myself?" She gave him a dry look. "Is that the night you're talking about?"

Tony sheepishly remembered back to the past, nodding slowly and avoiding her gaze.

"Thought so," Pepper placed a perfectly folded pocket square into Tony's jacket. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

"Yes, that will be all, Ms. Potts." Tony made careful use of her title, just like she did his.

They walked down to where the press conference was being held, preparing for the explosion of camera flashes and questions.

"And now, Mr. Stark has prepared a statement." Rhodey said, uncomfortable with being in front of so many people. He hoped that Tony would show up for once— _he_ certainly couldn't answer any questions about Iron Man. "He will not be taking any questions, thank you." He added as an afterthought when he saw Tony waiting in the wings.

"Thank you," Tony said quietly, walking up to the podium and taking his friend's place. "Uh, been a while since I was in front of you." Ob—Stane had been there the last time he had made such a statement. "I figure I'll stick to the cards this time."

A wave of expected laughter rolled over the crowd of reporters.

Tony looked down at the words. "There's been some speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop—"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark," Christine Everhart raised her hand with over-exaggerated politeness, "but do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared, despite the fact that you—"

"I know that it's confusing." Tony interrupted, glad that it had been her that asked the question. While he disliked Everhart on occasions, she always was searching for the truth... that was why he had prearranged for her to ask the questions that he knew everyone else would want to ask—it was better to be prepared. "It is one thing to question the official story, another to make wild accusations, or insinuate that I'm a superhero." He opened his mouth to continue making excuses, but Christine beat him by speaking fast.

"I never said you were a superhero." Christine said matter-of-factly.

"You didn't?" Tony blinked, panicking slightly because he made a mistake. He had messed up on answering her questions—something that he had tried to avoid by appointing her to ask said questions in the first place! The world would know who he was, everyone that was close to him could be put in danger like–like Yinsin had been.

Christine made a sound of agreement, giving him a moment to think and cover up what he had just said.

"Well, that's good because that would be outlandish and... _fantastic."_ He muttered the last word quietly. He sighed and looked up, realizing that the microphone must have picked up the last word. "I'm just not the–the hero type. Clearly."

Tony swallowed, thinking up excuses. "With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made—largely public."

Rhodey gave him a tired look. "Just stick to the cards, man," he whispered, leaning over.

"Yeah, okay." Tony nodded, "Yeah." He pivoted to face the reporters, scanning the cards. "The truth is..." he paused, what was so bad about people knowing? He could hear cameras going off, the quiet clicking was almost deafening against the sheer silence.

Tony made his decision, looking directly at Pepper, who was at the back of the room. Or more importantly, at who was next to Pepper.

Melinda May arched an eyebrow at his pause, silently waiting for him to continue. She worked for Hydra; _it was best to comply._

"The truth is that Iron Man is a bodyguard for Stark Industries who just so happened to have been in the process of testing a new piece of technology for us." Tony said quickly in a single breath, "For the time being, they would like to keep their identity secret for the sake of themself and their family members."

Pepper smiled reassuringly, which gave him the courage to finally breathe normally. May didn't seem to be making any threatening moves or anything, which was also good.

"Thank you," Tony stepped away from the platform as questions erupted amongst the reporters. He stuck close to Rhodey, who he knew would protect him from the mob.

They safely got to where Pepper was leaning against the wall with May looming over her shoulder

"Congratulations," Pepper said, giving him a quick hug. "Nothing went wrong."

"Of course nothing went wrong," May said, hiding her slight surprise at the result, "he followed the instructions." With his history, she had thought he would've done something stupid. 

Then Hydra would have had to step in.

"That I did," Tony agreed, linking his arm with Pepper's. "Now if you'll excuse us, Agent, we'll be on our way."

May stepped to the side and watched as they left. Immediately, the cameras turned to her and the cephalopod insignia on her clothing.

"What does Hydra have to do with what happened at Stark Industries?" A reporter asked.

"Is Iron Man Inhuman?" Another questioned.

"Was this an attempted repetition of the Cambridge Incident?"

"What actually happened?"

May glanced towards the door, but it was blocked by more reporters. She could have easily fought her way out, but hurting civilians on national television was bad publicity for Hydra.

_"Are you related to the Cambridge Incident?"_

She had to get out—away from the questions and everything. They were getting too close to the truth.

"No comment," May made sure she had a blank expression on her face as she left, pushing through the flashing lights and the barrage of questions she didn't want to answer.


	2. Chapter One

"How did it go, Sir?" JARVIS asked when he stepped into the workshop.

Tony groaned, sitting down in a nearby chair. "You know how it went, JARVIS."

"Indeed I do, Sir," JARVIS answered casually, "but I would prefer to hear what you think."

"Well, I didn't tell everyone that I'm Iron Man." Tony shrugged nonchalantly, "So that's probably good."

"I would agree, Sir." JARVIS, although he was _technically_ a computer program, sounded amused.

"I haven't been paying much attention to what happened when I was gone." Tony said suddenly, "What happened with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra? No one will give me a straight answer."

"Would you prefer for me to tell you what happened, or should I pull up the news, Sir?" JARVIS questioned as Tony took off the suit jacket and threw it over the back of a chair.

"Just tell me," said Tony. He trusted that JARVIS would tell him all the pertinent details.

"Very well," JARVIS made a sound that was similar to him clearing his throat. "Shortly after you had gone, an Inhuman girl by the name of Katya Belyakov was brought to the United States by S.H.I.E.L.D." A pause, "I believe the media calls it the 'Cambridge Incident'."

Tony watched as headlines of that day appeared before him, quickly changing as JARVIS continued with his narrative.

"Katya, according to S.H.I.E.L.D. files, was showing signs of not being able to control her powers—a form of sensory manipulation, apparently." JARVIS reported, a tone of disgust creeping into his next words. "Knowing this, S.H.I.E.L.D. still let her be around children without any proper training or control. In my opinion, it was a grave misjudgment that ended with the deaths of two hundred and seventy-nine children and adults."

Tony was quiet as he mulled over the words. Two hundred and seventy-nine people... it had been a massacre. No wonder the public disliked S.H.I.E.L.D. and Inhumans—although it seemed that the problem had been more in the fact that the child hadn't _known_ how to control her powers, less in the fact that she had powers.

"What happened to S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Tony asked as an image of what he recognized as S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy slid onto the hologram.

"According to the _official_ statement, it was a biohazard accident," JARVIS answered dryly. "Unofficially, it was a massacre."

Tony winced. While S.H.I.E.L.D. occasionally made mistakes, they still _occasionally_ did good in the world. They didn't deserve to all be killed.

"Sir, if I may..." JARVIS began tentatively.

"Go ahead," Tony nodded in approval.

"When you returned from... that place,” _Afghanistan_ “Hydra tested you for latent Inhuman DNA." JARVIS was quiet as he contemplated how to continue. "I may have changed a few things." He said finally.

Tony blinked, "What do you mean?" He remembered the tests and the issuing of his new i.d., but nothing peculiar stuck out in his mind. "JARVIS?"

"I might have tampered with the results, Sir," JARVIS said quietly, "One of my main objectives is to keep you safe from unnecessary harm. From my compiled data, I deemed that being outed as carrying Inhuman DNA would cause you some... difficulty, as well as potentially resulting in you being taken away."

"You..." Tony knew JARVIS was intelligent and could think for himself, but he had surpassed his expectations exceedingly so. "I am proud of you, JARVIS." He beamed with pride, feeling like a proud parent.

"You are?" The surprise in Jarvis' voice was almost comical.

"Of course I am!" Tony grinned at one of the cameras that let Jarvis view what was going on. "You've grown so much!" There was more he wanted to say—like how much he cared for JARVIS, how much JARVIS mattered to him—but, well, he was never the best at expressing emotions.

"You're not mad?"

"Mad?" Tony echoed, unsure of where JARVIS had gotten such a lucrative idea. "Why would I be mad? You’ve always looked out for me, JARVIS. I don’t know how exactly to tell you how much you mean to me but you are very important to me, JARVIS."

"Oh," Jarvis was quiet for a moment, contemplating the new information. One of his sensors went off, sending information to his mainframe. "Sir, Ms. Potts is looking for you."

"Thank you, JARVIS." They both knew he was thanking JARVIS for more than just notifying him. Tony checked to make sure he hadn't messed up the suit too terribly. "You can let her in."

-•-

It had been about a month or so after his press conference when Hydra arrived to 'ask' for his assistance.

Tony didn't want any part of Hydra's schemes, but he couldn't outright refuse either when they commissioned him to design a device that would make checking for potential Inhumans easier and faster.

"Look, Dr. Stark—" May was standing stiffly in his office, looking highly annoyed at him.

"'Dr. Stark'?" Tony echoed, interrupting her.

"You _do_ possess multiple doctorates, do you not?" May's usually emotionless face expressed slight amusement at his oblivious expression. Her carefully crafted mask momentarily lifted to show her true feelings.

"Oh yes." Tony's eyes flickered towards the diplomas that Pepper had insisted on hanging on the wall. He was used to people ignoring his official title, which was why it had been a shock to be addressed as such... a pleasant shock but a shock nonetheless.

"Anyway," May's mask slid back up as she recalled why she was there, "would making this device be possible?"

"Perhaps," Tony studied the papers detailing the science behind determining if a person possessed Inhuman genetics or not. They wanted him to find a fast solution to scanning for Inhuman DNA. It was quite simple, actually. All the information was right in there, in their faces. He could build it within the day easily.

But they both knew Tony wouldn't do it and May wasn't going to force it.

"I'll look over these and get back to you." Tony said casually, picking up the papers and arranging them in a neat stack on the desk. He would look over them, alright. It was always a good idea to know how to fight against your enemies—especially since said enemies were a terrorist orgonization linked to the Nazis and were currently running most of the world’s governments—And who knew? Perhaps they would ask someone else to build the device... he wished them the best of luck if it was _Justin Hammer_ they chose.

"Okay," May moved to go through the doorway but a blast threw her back into a wall.

"What—" Tony ducked behind his desk as an explosion reminiscent of the one that had caused shrapnel to become embedded in his chest tore the doors off their handles.

He froze for a moment, his mind back in Afghanistan. They were forcing him to build weapons, but he didn't want to build, and then— _no, stop!_

He couldn't get enough air—couldn't breathe—he was drowning. There was nothing he could do. Everyone was going to die, that would be his legacy. A legacy of _destruction_ and _death_ and—

"Stark!" May's voice broke through the haze of memories. "Tony! Anthony Stark! Snap out of it, Stark!"

Simultaneously, the earpiece that JARVIS had been using to communicate was notifying him of the AI's increased worry.

Tony's vision cleared and his memory of where he was returned. "Damn it," He scrambled to pull out the Mark V from where it had been hiding as a suitcase, lightly tapping a pattern into the earpiece to signify he was okay. He unlocked the suit and put the gauntlets on just as a group of people stormed in the door.

"Sorry to barge in like this, Mr. Stark." A man that JARVIS identified as Jeffrey Mace—also known as 'The Patriot'—, the current leader of what was left of S.H.I.E.L.D., led the party.

"Hold it right there." May hissed, pointing the gun at the Inhuman's head. She had hesitated to kill an Inhuman before, which had cost hundreds of innocent children their lives. She couldn't afford to do it again.

"Melinda," Mace said with a lilt of surprise to his words. "Working for Hydra?" He tsked, shaking his head. "What happened to you?"

"I saw the truth," May narrowed her eyes in suspicion as the man made no attempt to move from his spot. "What are you doing here, _Inhuman?"_

"We are simply here to discuss peace," Mace gestured behind him, at the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

Tony watched the interaction with fascination. He had searched for information regarding Agent May but he needed to be onsite to hack into Hydra's servers. He filed away the information that May might have once worked with the intruders, who he guessed—judging by the eagle logos—was what was left of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Peace?" May scoffed skeptically, "Who starts a peaceful discussion with an _explosion?"_

Mace winced, "That was, perhaps, not the best idea."

"Who are you?" Tony asked, aiming his repulsors at the intruders in warning. They were dangerous, no matter their claims of peace. 

Also, their discussions were boring him.

In addition, Hydra was undoubtedly already notified of their arrival, and they were wasting time.

"Jeffrey Mace," Mace said, "Director of S.H.I.E.L.D."

May started to say something, then stopped. She frowned, "What happened to Fury?"

"He's..." Mace gave her a pained look. "He's dead, Melinda."

"That's impossible," May replied automatically, her head reeling from the information. He couldn't be dead. He just _couldn't._

"That's the truth," Mace confirmed.

"Romanoff?" May looked to Natasha Romanoff—the Black Widow—for confirmation of the fact. If there was one thing that she could count on, it was that Natasha wouldn't sugarcoat or conceal the truth without reason.

"It's true," Romanoff stated emotionlessly.

May swore, glancing between the three agents. "If I put my gun down, can I trust you not to shoot me?"

Mace immediately nodded, a relaxing smile on his face.

"Only if provoked," Natasha said after a moment, then pocketed her gun.

"Barton?

Clint Barton—Also known as Hawkeye—gave May a suspicious look. "Fine," he muttered, putting his bow away.

Romanoff glanced at Tony's glowing Iron Man gauntlets. She quirked an eyebrow, "A bodyguard, huh?"

Tony didn't answer, slipping the gauntlets off and back into the case. The world didn't know he was Iron Man; something that was best kept a secret. He didn’t care if they saw him using the suit. After all, who would believe members of the not-so-deceased S.H.I.E.L.D.?

"Talk, Mace." May demanded. If Fury was dead, she should've known about it. Hydra wasn't exactly discreet when it came to the deaths of their enemies.

"What can I say?" Mace gave her a perplexed look. "Fury is dead, and Hydra killed him."

"That's impossible," May argued in denial, "it _couldn't_ have been Hydra."

"The Massacre at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy," Mace said simply. "He was shot and killed."

"...what?" May felt like the world was crashing down around her. _Shot_ at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy? No, it was because of a biohazard—an accident! The trainees there were not much older than children—some still were children! If Hydra had—

JARVIS chose that time to 'borrow' the speakers and voice what he had discovered. "According to satellite imaging for the time of the massacre, it is indeed likely that Director Fury perished as a result."

The other humans in the room, other than Tony, jumped slightly at hearing the AI's words.

"What was that?" Barron looked around the room. "Who's there?"

"That's JARVIS," Tony said quickly. Artificial Intelligence was a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands but he thought that at least one of the four agents would have done something irrational without a probable answer.

Tony thought of how to explain JARVIS. "He's my..." _Son. Friend. Lifeline. Everything._ "He's my AI." It was best to downplay everything about JARVIS, lest Hydra or anyone else attempt to use JARVIS as a weapon.

"So back to the discussions of peace?" Mace gave May a reassuring smile. Tony let out a sigh of relief as he saw them distracted from JARVIS. "You wouldn't believe how difficult it was to get access to here."

A million thoughts ran through May's head. Peace was something that was a fleeting dream; incapable of occurring without violence. Hydra had achieved a semblance of peace after the... after the Cambridge Incident.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had done _nothing_ to stop it from happening. She knew that not all Inhumans were bad, but she couldn't risk it happening again—wouldn’t risk it happening again. If S.H.I.E.L.D. rose back to power, who could say that history wouldn't repeat itself?

"...not dangerous without access to terrigen." Mace had continued talking while May had been thinking.

Tony nodded, contemplating Mace's words. If Hydra believed that Inhumans were all bad, wouldn't the easy solution be to just deny them terrigen? He, in a curiously morbid fashion, wanted to experiment with terrigen but knew it would be a bad idea, as well as potentially outing him as Inhuman.

"Hydra, freeze!" A cry that led to armed officers filing into the office.

May kept an intentionally blank face, hiding the conflicted emotions she felt. She drew her gun, positioning her between the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Tony. She hadn't called Hydra, which means someone else had. Of course, S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't been exactly discreet when they had appeared, guns blazing and explosives flying.

"The subversives have been found," One of the Hydra agents said into a communicator.

"Well, that's our cue to leave." Barton quipped.

In a blink of an eye, Romanoff and Mace attacked the agents. While that happened, Barton fired an explosive arrow at the window. The beeping noise was quickly followed by the window shattering as the bomb went off.

Tony made a silent note to reinforce the windows with stronger glass.

Barton's following arrow made contact with a hovering helicopter, the rope attached to it providing a means of escape. The wind from the spinning rotors blew papers all over the room, making it look like it was snowing.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents took the opportunity to grab onto the rope and leap out what was left of the window, climbing into the waiting aircraft.

The remaining Hydra agents unconsciously gulped in fearful anticipation of Madame Hydra's reaction to their failure. May gave the agents a defiant look, silently daring them to comment on how she hadn't been armed when they had entered.

No one messed with the Calvary.

Unseen by anyone, a terrigen crystal lay untouched beneath Tony's desk.

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the Marvel Cinematic Universe, its characters, or anything from it.


End file.
